Enough Tricep Work?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

I’m doing a 4 day push pull routine, which means I push twice a week. During these push workouts I hit my triceps through bench press, shoulder press, and tricep push downs. I recently just got over triceps tendonitis and it still bothers me a bit. I’m worried about it coming back so I cut dips out of my routine which really bothered it.

Anyways im wondering if this is enough volume per training session to force maximal growth in my triceps. I would like to think it is, although it almost seems as if I should add one more triceps lift to the workout. It’s just kind of a tough decision balancing between too little volume, and too much which may cause the tendonitis to flare up again. I even cut out incline presses for chest to try and limit triceps irritation. I do bench press, db flyes, and cable crossover to hit my chest. Any input on these 2 topics would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

2

Are your triceps growing well? Wouldn’t be enough for me, definitely not enough to force ‘maximal growth.’

Some things I’ve done that have helped my tendonitis issues tremendously: Warm up THOROUGHLY; more emphasis on form/squeeze/feeling my triceps working, rather than weights used; get elbow sleeves for heavy pressing/extensions; take lots of fish oil.

3

I’m no expert, but have you tried doing lying tricep extensions with an EZ curl bar (I personally do them with a grip in which my palms are facing me and lying works better for me as I have better stability and can handle more weight with better form)? Really works my triceps, I think part of you’re problem is that tricep push downs are too similar to bench and shoulder press, except you’re pressing down instead of up (at least as far as the triceps are concerned). If you experience pain from your tendinitis then I wouldn’t do them, and like I said I’m not expert so take my advice with a grain of salt, I’m just speaking from personal experience

4

I have some issues in my right elbow. I’ve found that some hard massaging of the tendons around the elbow with a lacrosse ball pressed against a table/counter/bench/wall helps a lot.

As far as exercise selection, these work well for me, and don’t aggravate my elbow. (My triceps also seem to be growing well from them. I do an AM and PM session twice a week, 3-4x12.)

5

^ Just watching her induces maximal growth.

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@ dreadlocks. Thanks for the input, but lying triceps extensions absolutely kill my elbows. I’m thinking of trying to add close crop bench press but I’m really hesitant to do so.

7

FTR, I used to do more close grip, heavy extensions, etc, got fairly strong at those movements (275x6 close grip bench), but had about 15" arms at 200 pounds with real shitty tricep growth and lots of elbow pain. Now what I do, that has made my tris grow much more than heavy stuff (still nothing special but 16 inch arms at 180 pounds, more muscle less fat… check my hub for photos if you’d like, I’m pretty close to that leanness now but with about 5 pounds more muscle), without bothering them at all:

Straight bar pushdowns - warm up lots on this, like usually I’ll do 25 lbs x 30ish, 42.5x20ish, 57.5x15ish, 72.5x12ish (first set that is starting to get difficult), then 3 actually hard sets above that, really focusing on squeezing my tris at the bottom, feeling the muscle work, getting blood into them, etc)

Rope extensions - very similar to the video above, again quite light, squeezing them out at the end… these are the only overhead extensions I can consistently do without elbow pain.

Cordova extensions, really squeezing again - - YouTube

Then reverse grip bench, again not as heavy as I could go, slow, deliberate negative, pause on chest, and explode up.

Now, this is not to say my workout is perfect, and I know I’m no monsah, but nobody else is really jumping in, this has been working quite well for me, I feel my triceps very well doing these exercises, they have been growing, and they cause me no elbow pain. Obviously in a push/pull routine you do not have room for all four of these exercises, but they are some ideas of things to try.

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[quote]pcdude wrote:
^ Just watching her induces maximal growth.[/quote]

Glad you enjoyed that. There are better videos out there, but this one’s more enjoyable to watch.

9

try scott tricep extensions,

10

I’ve found this to be good and it has brought up my triceps a fair bit now so that they match my biceps.

Light rope pushdowns - 3 sets of 10-15 with a light weight (starting at 15 reps maybe going down a 1 or 2 each set, don’t increase the weight just focus on quality reps). Really focus on the squeeze here and get a slight pump. Don’t wear yourself out too much.

Bench dips - start with bodyweight and do sets of 10-15 again but this time ramping up in weight. These are fairly easy to add weight to and sacrifice form but make sure you always feel it in your triceps. I don’t know how many overall sets you’ll do but keep ramping up until your last set is a difficult 10 reps.

EZ bar pushdowns - this time you’re looking to get as pumped as possible. I keep reps at about 10 for this and ramp up a little if I can manage it. I’ll do about 3 or 4 sets of 8-10 here but the last set is a drop set where you do maybe 2 drops and just pumping out.

Overhead DB extensions - have both hands on one DB and go right down with a deep stretch. I sometimes hold the stretch for a count of 1 or 2 and then explode back up. Don’t lock these out, just keep them under constant tension. You’ll need to use relatively light weight on these due to the hold in the stretch position and the fact that you’re not locking out. Reps for these sets vary depending on how much I’ve put into the rest of the exercises but they probably range from 6-10.

11

Thanks for all the advice guys. I’m trying to decide the cause of my tendonitis. It has to be a bad form issue right? None of my exercises have blatantly bad form though. I just don’t want to go back to physical therapy cause the first thing they do is tell you not do use your triceps… I’m gonna try voodoo bands and fish oil. I have been foam rolling and taking some fish oil (although inconsistently). I just want to know whats causing it so I can continue to make progress.

12

[quote]bulkNcut wrote:
Thanks for all the advice guys. I’m trying to decide the cause of my tendonitis. It has to be a bad form issue right? None of my exercises have blatantly bad form though. I just don’t want to go back to physical therapy cause the first thing they do is tell you not do use your triceps… I’m gonna try voodoo bands and fish oil. I have been foam rolling and taking some fish oil (although inconsistently). I just want to know whats causing it so I can continue to make progress. [/quote]

Warming up with rope pushdowns as described in my previous post has made my elbows feel much better, especially when going heavier on tricep exercises. A lot of people recommend it, give it a go.

13

Thanks man I’ll give it go